Ambrosia (1x1)

Her reply did help soothe his uneasiness, at least to some degree. He made a short mental note to never think so damn hard about the proposal again. Like most things in life, the more you overthink something, the scarier it becomes when in reality it is never anything more than one can handle easily. Letting his mind get dragged deep into a pit of doubt would do his relationship and trust in Persephone no good; no matter the outcome, it would never be as terrible as his mind would make him think it'd ever be. Persephone was a kind, gentle and wonderful soul who he was lucky to have ever met in the first place. "Glad you're giving mercy to my impatient self," He replied, voice soft but with a tinge of a playful tone. His nerves washed away.

The feeling of her hand in his was a surprise, but he didn't pull his hand away from her grasp--instead, giving it a gentle squeeze right back as if to see if it were true that it was her hand gently holding his own.

"I supposed I'm just worried about how your family would react. Your mother still makes me a bit nervous--almost like she will actually kill me if I so much as accidentally hurt you," He retorted, but it wasn't that big of a concern, more of a fleeting thought. Perhaps if he were one of his brothers, it'd be a bigger deal. "Oh! Yes, secret bedroom with a secret room. Almost forgot about the whole point of our secret rendezvous." He then continued to lead the way to the said room in question, a little pep in his step as he went.
 
"She has that effect on most people, but she's really not that bad all the time I promise. I think she's mostly just worried that you're plotting to sweep me away from Olympus and she'll never see or hear from me again." Persephone joked, unbothered by the possibility. It wouldn't surprise her if that was indeed the way that her mother would choose to look at it, though she still held out hope that it wouldn't be so.

She'd spent quite some time thinking about the proposal and what leaving Olympus would be like, including the effect it might have on the people she'd be leaving behind. Regardless of family and friends, the prospect of going somewhere new was exciting for sure. Even if there was a chance that she could be leaving her favourite pastime behind, there was bound to be a hundred other new things for her to do and she hadn't given up on finding some way to bring flora to the north just yet. Not to mention that she would have Hades to keep her company and vice-versa. Something had sparked between them, if not in the gardens the first day they had met then at the banquet when she'd taken him to see the moonflowers and he'd helped to unpin her hair, and that something made even just talking feel special.

"So many secrets, how exciting!" She laughed, picking up her pace to keep up with him as they walked.
 
"I can't blame her for that assumption. I'm not an open book like Zeus and most don't know what life is like in my kingdom. Though, I hope she changes her mind once we get to know each other better. The last thing I want is for you to be apart from your dear family," He replied, unsurprised by the thought. He certainly wasn't hated in Olympus, but there was suspicion around him to some degree.

At this point in time, all Hades really wanted was to spend time with Persephone. Either by just walking about the castle, playing more silly childish games, exploring the gardens, or even just sitting down and talking about anything that came to mind was good enough for him. If Persephone ended up marrying him, and she wanted to spend more time staying at home in Olympus, he'd gladly follow her. If she wanted to spend more time in his own home up north, he'd gladly follow her there, too. As long as he could spend his time by her side, he couldn't care less about where they'd end up. They could end up lost in some forest deep in the wilds of Olympus and Hades would still be content at Persephone's side. He was hesitant to call it love but it certainly was some sort of attachment.

Eventually the two of them, after a series of stair-climbing and walking down long, long halls, they made it to the bedroom in question. It was much like the others, spacious and comfy, but also unused. Zeus had many living in his castle but even so, there were still a plethora of empty bedrooms. The more the merrier, huh? He knocked on the door before opening it, just in case, and the two of them entered.

"I want you to know that it's not as exciting as you think it is, but it's still interesting." He said as he entered the room, scanning the place for the specific piece of furniture. A small, hidden panel was hiding behind an unsuspecting panel of wood as well as a vanity mirror. He spotted the vanity mirror in question and headed over to it.

"Would you like to flip the switch?" He asked with a smile, his voice filled with playful grandeur.
 
Persephone shot one last glance over her shoulder to check for anyone in the hall before she followed Hades into the room. She wasn't worried about being seen, but in the chance that they had been it certainly wouldn't be a bad thing to know what direction the rumours were going to come from.

"I'm not going to be disappointed, don't worry. A secret passage is still a secret passage even if it's not used for anything particularly exciting." A glance around the room revealed little, though the point of a secret passage was that it was a secret so it would have been rather useless if it were too obvious. She followed behind Hades as he walked across the room, past the fireplace and a bookshelf that looked as though it might be light enough to be moved to reveal a door. When Hades finally stopped in front of a mirrored vanity she couldn't help but raise a quizzical eyebrow, shooting him a glance through the reflection of the mirror

A child-like excitement bubbled up in her chest at the question and Persephone had to fight back a grin, though when she spoke her voice gave away her enthusiasm. "There are few things that I'd enjoy doing more right now." She replied, taking a few steps toward the vanity until she was close enough to kneel down and look under the table, searching for any sort of button or lever. Finding nothing she stood and walked around to the other side. "You might have to give me a hint or two if you expect me to find it on my own. I'm much better at gardening than I am at secret passages."
 
Her quizzical look made him softly chuckle, especially when that expression shifted to one of excitement that immediately bubbled to the surface. He wasn't surprised that she was so damn excited to flip a simple switch to reveal a hidden door. It was new and interesting for her, only having been a thing in books that created a fantasy to royal life. He laughed a little more as she scrambled to find the said switch a few moments later.

"Eager to jump right into it, huh?" He teased, before leaning over to reach the back of the vanity, just to make sure the switch was where he recalled it being. It had been quite a while since he had been in these secret passages since there had been no use for it and he no longer had the same childlike wonder in things. He felt the loose stone in the wall behind the vanity and he poked and prodded it until he was able to pull it out. He placed it on the vanity's table, before stepping back and gesturing to the back of the vanity with a flourish. "If you feel behind the mirror along the wall, you should feel an area that goes inward. There, you should feel a switch."

He gave her more space and smiled. "Switch away."
 
Persephone laughed at that, taking a few steps back when Hades leaned in to reach around the back of the vanity to give him some more room. "I wanted to see if I could find it. I suppose it wouldn't be very secret if it was in a really obvious or easy to find spot but it didn't hurt to try." She replied, the vanity blocking her view from what he was doing though it wasn't long before the quiet scrape of stone against stone reached her ears.

Once he had placed the stone on the table, Persephone knelt down on the side of the vanity that he had pulled the stone from behind and begun to slide her hand along the wall, over the face of the rock wall worn smooth by tools and time until she found the spot where Hades had removed the stone. With shorter arms, she had to shift her position slightly to reach into the now revealed gap and feel for a switch.

Within a few seconds of searching she found the switch in question, a small handle made of what felt like cloth wrapped wood attached to the stone beneath. Wrapping her fingers around it she gave a strong push in the opposite direction.
 
After she pushed the lever into the opposite position, a soft click could be heard from somewhere nearby. It was soft enough of a noise for those unsuspecting of a hidden passageway to think the noise of being something else. But the two of them knew better, as they were here just for that noise that would lead them straight to the hidden passage in question. Hades looked around the room, silent as he scanned it. If he remembered correctly, the click "unlocked" a piece of furniture in here to swing open. A complicated set of machinery comprised of pulleys and gears were set in motion at the trigger of the switch, which released a secure hatch that prevented the piece of furniture from swinging open and being able to reveal the passage to those unknowing of the hidden switch.

He recalled one room being used with the common bookshelf door, but he was almost certain that not every room with the passage system used one, just for safety's sake, and he at least a little sure the bookshelf wasn't the door to the passage here. Though, it never hurt to try.

"I don't really remember if it was the bookshelf or something else that revealed the passage," He voiced his thoughts to Persephone. He walked across the room to the bookshelf, and from one edge, he pulled on it with a light force to see if it was loose in any way. "But the switch should have certainly done its job and let us go explore that passage." He continued and sighed when the bookshelf didn't give way. It was firmly planted in place, perhaps purposefully built with a heavier, sturdier wood to trick those snooping around the castle. He then went to one of the small dressers that were roughly half his height and he tested that. And, with minimal effort, the dresser gave way and opened up like a normal door with a hinge. An opening that was just a little smaller than the length and height of the dresser was hidden behind it.

"It might be a tight fit, but it should become a passage we can walk through after the initial squeeze," He crouched down and looked inside of the opening. He could faintly see a light coming from somewhere, and it illuminated a patch of floor that was covered in dust. Wonderful.

"Do you wish to lead the way, Ms. Explorer?" He asked, turning his head to look over at her.
 
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